Mausam Premiere and Screenings at Toronto International Film Festival Cancelled

It is now confirmed that Mausam will not be making its world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival® this week. The film’s stars Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and director Pankaj Kapoor were to be in attendance for the fabulous premiere event. However, because of problem with getting a final clearance they have had to cancel all three screenings. The delay in getting this final certificate is because the Indian Air Force has not cleared some of the scenes in the film and thus the Board of Certification in India was not able to give the go ahead in time for the film to show at the festival.

Here is the official press release from the TIFF press offices
Statement Regarding The Cancellation Of Mausam
TORONTO – September 13, 2011 – Due to regulatory delays in India, all screenings of Mausam have been cancelled.

“We are extremely disappointed that the studio has informed us that the film will not have received the necessary regulatory approvals in India, forcing us to cancel all screenings of Mausam,” said Cameron Bailey, Co-Director of the Festival. “Toronto audiences have been powerful champions for the promotion and growth of Indian cinema abroad and it’s a shame that our Festival audiences will be left disappointed.”

The Toronto International Film Festival® received word yesterday that the studio, Eros International Media Limited, has a memorandum of understanding in place with the Indian Air Force, giving them final approval on the film prior to clearing the Indian censor board. That approval will not be possible prior to Wednesday’s scheduled world premiere screening. As a result, all screenings of the film will be cancelled.

“We are very disappointed not to be able to present the world premiere of Mausam in Toronto and accept full responsibility for our absence,” said Mr. Sheetal Talwar, producer of the film. “We ran into a delay getting approvals from the Indian Air Force and the Board of Film Certification in India.” Mr. Ram Mirchandani, Chief Creative Officer at Eros International added, “Mr. Pankaj Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and all of us behind the film send our deepest apologies to our audience in Toronto.”

It is unclear yet whether Mausam will release on the 16th as planned or if it will be delayed releasing in theaters until the 23rd.

As for getting the IAF approval, Shahid tweeted that they will be having a special screening for the IAF on Wednesday evening, “Going to iaf tomorrow in delhi to show them MAUSAM … Fingers crossed and hoping for the best.” If the approval is given to the changes in the flying scenes then the film can then get the censor certificate and hit cinemas to an eagerly awaiting audience. We will keep you up to date on this story so check back for the latest news!